This past weekend was spent in New Mexico, which of course, guarantees a stop at Bobcat Bite. But in all the times I have been here before, I did something new. I ate here on a Sunday. They used to be closed on Sundays, but I appreciate the extra opportunity to get the famed green chile cheeseburger.

Arriving 15 minutes before they opened, there were several other cars already waiting in the parking lot for themto unlock the door. By the time they officially opened, there was enough people waiting to fill the place. I was lucky enough to snag my favorite seat, dead center of the counter. What makes this the best seat is that you are positioned to get all the natural light from the picture window in the back, which is great for photo taking. And you also can kill time waiting for your burger watching the hummingbirds enjoying the feeder. Here are a few photos of the hummingbirds.

After about a half hour, my GCC came out. Just as beautiful as always. And tasted just as spectacular as remembered. Owner Bonnie Eckre did not wait on me. Instead, I had a young woman I had not seen before, but she was constantantly refilling the iced tea after just a sip or two. Bonnie told me she thought I looked familiar and when I reminded her of the Roadfood bus tour, she recalled ChiTownDiner, cousin Johnny and myself. I asked her about the change in buns they made a few years ago. She said that the hamburger bun they used would just disintegrate because of the juiciness of the meat. They decided a hard roll would be too hard, so they worked with their bun provider in Albuquerque to come up with something in between. The results are an even better product. My bun was also well toasted, more than I had ever seen before.

On the side, an order of the sweet, bacony skillet beans, which is only available during the Summer. Confession time: I didn't eat the entire burger. Since there had already been two breakfasts on this morning, I had the second half wrapped to go and ate it at the airport sunport in Albuquerque.

The one regret was that since I am a nut frowner, I didn't try the homemade cookies for sale next to the counter.

SC-The feeder is right outside the window, which makes it real easy for photo taking. Management did try putting green chile nectar in the bird feeder, but they got tired of hitting me with brooms to shoo me away.

I thought I was really close the other day to getting lleechef to agree to a little drive after our boar hunt next month in Missouri. After all, I reasoned, it's just a one night stopover in Weatherford, Oklahoma before getting to Santa Fe from Rolla. I even pointed out how much she enjoyed her dinner at the steakhouse in Weatherford last summer. Didn't work.

Wintahaba, Trader Joe's sells Hatch, NM chiles in the can. I've bought them here in NYC so it's possible they may have them at other stores. I checked their site and it says they have locations in Wisconsin in Brookfield, Glendale and Madison, if that helps.

I bought them this year at The Fresh Market. They sold quart containers of roasted hatch chilies with the charred skin on. I bought quite a few quarts and skinned and deseeded them, put them in zip locks and froze them for future use. I used some for a nice chicken hatch chili soup. I am definitely going to make some green chili cheese burgers very soon.

Just finished my first (and with the news of late, my last) visit to the Bobcat Bite. Is any burger worth a two-hour wait from the time you get on the seating list until your food is placed in front of you? Anyone answering no hasn't had a Bobcat Bite GCCB. This is without question the finest burger I've ever eaten.

All the accolades listed earlier in this thread are true, but there is a definite seasoning of the meat that is done to perfection. When combined with the incredibly flavored chiles and that tasty cheese blend, this becomes the burger version of manna from Heaven.

I'm choosing to look on the bright side of the Eckres leaving the venerable old spot and relocating elsewhere in Santa Fe. The GCCB is worth the two-hour wait, but if it can be had in 60 minutes, all the better.

I make killer burgers at home....thick, grilled MR on good buns with cheese and slabs of fresh Ohio tomatoes but there is NOTHING like a GCCB at Bobcat Bite! I know I can purchase the hatch chiles online....but there's something special about being in Santa Fe, talking to Bonnie about Alaska (she graduated from Elmendorf High School in Anchorage) and just devouring that delicious burger and hearing the stories about the bobcats. I have eaten at many restaurants in many countries, Bobcat Bite is definitely in the top five.